chief directress in all
their doings, but down here Kitty was more like a visitor, and the
others politely deferred to her. So King went contentedly to work,
stoning raisins, and the girls made the cake.

"I didn't bring my recipe book," said Kitty, "but I guess I remember how
to make it. You see, Eliza is going to teach me to make lots of things,
so I've quite a big book for recipes."

"How many have you so far?" asked Midget, greatly interested.

"Well, only this one; but it's sponge cake, you know. I shall have more
later."

"Yes, of course," said Midget, politely, and suddenly feeling that her
younger sister was getting very grown-up, with her recipe book and her
sponge cake.

"Now," proceeded Kitty, "if I'm to show you, Midget, you must pay close
attention."

"I will,--oh, I will!"

"First, you break the eggs, and separate them, white from yolk, like
this,--see!"

But whether she was rattled at having such an interested audience, or
whether she was not very expert as yet, Kitty couldn't make the eggs
"separate" neatly. Every one she broke persisted in spilling out its
yellow and white together.

"Let me try," said Marjorie, but her efforts were not much more
successful. Bits of shell would fall in the bowl, and even if she got
most of the white in safely, some yellow would spill in, too.

"Does it matter much?" asked King.

"Oh, I don't believe so," said Kitty. "I guess we'll beat the eggs all
up together, white and yellow both."

Kitty put in the Dover eggbeater with an air of experience, and whisked
its wheel "round and round."

"Let me in, too," said Midget. "There's another beater I found in the
cupboard."

There was room in the big bowl for both beaters, and the two girls
whizzed the wheels around like mad.

"Hold on!" cried King. "You're flirting that yellow stuff all over!"

"Well, anyway, it's well beaten," declared Kitty, looking at the frothy
yellow mass with satisfaction. "Now we put in the flour,--no, the sugar,
I think."

"Butter?" suggested Marjorie.

"No, there's no butter in it. This is _sponge_ cake."

Properly subdued, Marjorie awaited orders.

"Sugar," Kitty decided at last; "and bring a cup."

Midget brought the cup, and Kitty measured the sugar, and dumped it into
the bowl of egg.

"I can't think whether it's three or four cups full," she said, holding
a cup full uncertainly over the bowl.

"Dump it in!" advised King. "I like 'em pretty sweet."

So in went the